Nowadays, cursor control devices such as mice become essential input devices of computer systems. By using a mouse, a cursor is moved to a command option on a screen, so that the user can input instructions to control processing operations of the computer system. With increasing demands of using the mouse as the control device of the computer system, the functions, the appearances and the user-friendliness of the mouse are improved and associated technologies are well established. For example, the mechanism for sensing the moving direction and the displacement of the mouse is shifted from a trackball mechanism to an optical sensing mechanism. Furthermore, the method for transmitting signals is advanced from the wired signal transmission technology to the wireless transmission technology. For practicability, a scroll wheel assembly is arranged between two click buttons.
Conventionally, the scroll wheel assembly is roatable in either a forward direction or a backward direction to scroll the image upwardly or downwardly. For minimization, another type of mouse having a thin film switch array is commercially available. By touching the thin film switch array, such a mouse has the functions identical to those activated by rotating the scroll wheel assembly. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, schematic perspective views of two conventional mice are shown. The mouse 100 of FIG. 1 has a scroll wheel assembly 10. The mouse 101 of FIG. 2 has a thin film switch array 11 in replace of the scroll wheel assembly. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, since the level of the mouse 101 relatively to the desk plane is lower than that of the mouse 100 having the scroll wheel assembly 10, the mouse 101 is slimmer.
For minimization, a slim mouse was disclosed in a co-pending Taiwanese Patent Application No. 95107510, which was filed by the same assignee of the present application on Mar. 7, 2006, and the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Referring to FIG. 3(a), a schematic perspective view of the slim mouse disclosed in Taiwanese Patent Application No. 95107510 is illustrated. The slim mouse 200 as shown in FIG. 3(a) comprises a first housing 201, a second housing 202 and a connecting member 203. The first housing 201 includes a first slant 2021. The second housing 202 includes a second slant 2022. Via the connecting member 203, the first housing 201 is coupled with the second housing 202. The connecting member 203 has a rotating shaft 2031. By means of the rotating shaft 2031, the second housing 202 is rotatable relative to the first housing 201. Please also refer to FIG. 3(b), which is a schematic perspective view of the connecting member 203. As shown in FIG. 3(b), the connecting member 203 further includes a first connecting plate 2032 and a second connecting plate 2033. The first connecting plate 2032 and the second connecting plate 2033 are fixed onto the first slant 2021 and the second slant 2022, respectively. The first connecting plate 2032 is coupled to the second connecting plate 2033 via the rotating shaft 2031, such that the second connecting plate 2033 is rotatable relative to the first connecting plate 2032. As a consequence, the second housing 202 is rotatable relative to the first housing 201 via the rotating shaft 2031. The operating mechanism of the slim mouse 200 will be illustrated in more details with reference to FIGS. 4(a)˜4(c).
Referring to FIGS. 4(a)˜4(c), the operating mechanism of the slim mouse 200 is schematically illustrated. In a case that the slim mouse 200 is not acted as the cursor control device to be moved on the desk plane, the first slant 2021 of the first housing 201 is in contact with the second slant 2022 of the second housing 202. Under this circumstance, the slim mouse 200 has a flat configuration and the volume of the slim mouse 200 is reduced, as is shown in FIG. 4(a). If the user intends to move the mouse on the desk plane, the second housing 202 should be rotated, as is shown in FIG. 4(b). After the second housing 202 is rotated by 180 degrees, the first slant 2021 of the first housing 201 is in contact with the second slant 2022 of the second housing 202 again, as is shown in FIG. 4(c). Due to the contact between the first slant 2021 and the second slant 2022, the slim mouse has a cambered configuration as is indicated in the dashed circle. Under this circumstance, the slim mouse 200 can be used as a cursor control device to be moved on the desk plane when the user's hand is placed on the cambered surface. Therefore, the slim mouse 200 may function as either a cursor control device or a remote controller by switching the configuration between a flat configuration and a cambered configuration.
This slim mouse 200, however, still has some drawbacks. For example, when the slim mouse 200 functions as a remote controller by adjusting the configuration to be flat, the function of using as a cursor control device is still enabled. In other words, even though the functions involving the cursor control device are not needed, power is continuously supplied to the components associated with the mechanism of the cursor control device. Under this circumstance, the power consumption of the battery inside the slim mouse 200 is considerable.
In views of the above-described disadvantages resulted from the prior art, the applicant keeps on carving unflaggingly to develop a computer peripheral device according to the present invention through wholehearted experience and research.